


THE  DEVELOPMENT  OF  THE  TYMPANI 
SECTION  FROM  THE  TIME  OF  BACH 


ADRA  L.  SHUTT 


THESIS 

FOR  THE 

DEGREE  OF  BACHELOR  OF  MUSIC 


IN 

MUSIC 


SCHOOL  OF  MUSIC 

UNIVERSITY  OF  ILLINOIS 


1922 


;; 


5L2L 


UNIVERSITY  OF  ILLINOIS 


___jlune__9 1933 

THIS  IS  TO  CERTIFY  THAT  THE  THESIS  PREPARED  UNDER  MY  SUPERVISION  BY 

Adra-L..—  Sjmtt 

ENTITLED -THE-  DEVELOPMENT  _QF_.THEL _TXMP_ARI _ RERTXQN_ -FROM 

THE--TIMX  jOE-RACE. 

IS  APPROVED  BY  ME  AS  FULFILLING  THIS  PART  OF  THE  REQUIREMENTS  FOR  THE 
DEGREE  OF Rach-e-1  ox  _ -of  _ _Mua  1c  _ -in-  - Mu  p.  i.s 


Digitized  by  the  Internet  Archive 
in  2016 


https://archive.org/details/developmentoftymOOshut 


1 


DEVELOPMENT  OF  TYMPANI  SECTION  PROM 
THE  TIME  OP  BACH 
Outline 

I  Introduction 

A-  Development  of  coloring 

(1)  Contributions  of  different  Composers 
B-  Early  Orchestra 

(1)  Of  what  it  was  composed 

(2)  Uses  made  of  it  by  Composers 


II  History  of  the  Kettle  drums 

A-  Primitive  Development  from  History 
(1)  Uses  by  different  peoples 
B-  Development  of  Drummers  Guild 
C-  Gradual  rise  to  significant  place 

III  General  Construction  of  Kettle  Drums 

A-  Prom  Medieval  to  Modem  development 
B-  Treating  of  Ludwig  and  Ludwig* s device 

(1)  The  newest  development  of  the  drums 

(2)  Explaining  the  action  of  the  Machine  drum 

IV  Range  and  Abilities  of  the  Kettle  drums 

A-  Uses  made  by  Companies  of  Drums 

(1)  Dealing  with  their  melodic  treatment. 

(2)  Given  examples  of  drums  importance  in 

melodic  arrangement 


V  Comparing  Advancement  of  Tympani  from  Bach-  Brahm 

A-  Analyzing  Bach*s  Scores 
B-  Analyzing  Brahm* s Scores 


2 


INTRODUCTION 

Students  of  Orchestral  music  find  great  solidity  and 
balance  of  tone  in  the  works  of  the  early  masters*  Bach’s  writings 
are  always  substantial,  but  there  is  no  large  amount  of  contrast 
and  variety  in  them.  This  is  partly  owing  to  the  lack  of  instruments 
and  partly  to  the  meagre  technical  resources  of  those  wind  instru- 
ments which  he  had. 

The  possibilities  of  coloring  increased  as  new  instruments 
came  into  use.  Mozart  may  be  said  to  have  made  the  first  systematic 
attempts  at  specific  tone  coloring;  however  Haydn  in  his  old  age 
advanced  beyond  Mozart  in  tone  coloring,  while  Beethoven,  who  had  a 
special  feeling  for  the  individuality  of  instruments,  developed  the 
features  of  contrast  and  variety  far  beyond  anything  which  his  pre- 
decessors had  conceived.  Weber’s  orchestral  technique  is  immense. 

He  understood  thoroughly  all  the  requirements  of  good  orchestration, 
and  to  this  day  his  works  sound  full,  sonorous  and  brilliant,  even 
when  heard  at  concerts  where  the  most  recent  products  are  displayed. 
Brahms  is  one  of  the  moderns  who  did  not  master  the  technique  of 
orchestration,  Wagner  on  the  other  hand,  knew  how  to  score  and  write 
deep,  sonorous  basses  without  disturbing  the  clarity  of  his  work. 
Most  of  the  French  composers  score  beautifully.  In  all  the  field  of 
Opera  there  is  not  a warmer  or  more  delicately  refined  score  than 
that  of  "Faust**.  Saint  Saen’s  orchestration  is  both  the  model  and 
despair  of  every  young  composer.  Each  composer  has  a distinct  style. 

For  instance  Tschaikowsky  wrote  much  that  was  wierd,  sombre  and 
melancholy,  while  Liszt’s  orchestration  is  always  rich  and  heavy. 

Dvorak's  writings  are  always  strong  and  bright,  whereas  Richard 


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Strauss  writes  staecato  chords  for  trumpets  and  makes  horns  do 
things  which  fifty  years  ago  would  have  been  cast  aside  as  impossi- 
ble. 

The  constitution  of  the  orchestra  in  the  early  part  of 
the  eighteenth  century  then  had  reached  the  basis  on  which  it  now 
rests,  except  for  the  fact  that  the  harpsichord  was  still  used.  Two 
trumpets  and  a pair  of  kettle  drums  were  introduced  when  brilliant, 
militant  passages  were  to  be  written.  The  systematic  use  of  wood 
winds  in  pairs  was  just  beginning.  The  delay  in  this  vital  matter 
was  due  to  the  hold  which  the  polyphonic  style  of  composition  still 
had.  The  orchestral  Symphony  came  into  existence  about  the  middle 
of  the  eighteenth  century,  and  with  its  advent  we  find  the  orchestra 
of  Bach  and  Handel,  slightly  modified,  and  differently  used.  Hector 
Berlioz  had  a truly  wonderful  insight  into  the  powers  of  all  the 
Orchestral  instruments,  and  he  laid  down  the  principles  of  the  post- 
Beethoven  style  of  orchestral  writing.  We  find  Schubert,  Schumann, 
Mendelssohn  and  other  immediate  followers  of  Beethoven  using  pre- 
cisely the  same  orchestra.  Berlioz,  however,  began  at  once  to  give 
variety  to  the  instrumental  body.  Many  of  his  advancements  were  due 
to  the  introduction  in  1832  of  the  system  of  boring  and  keying  of 
wind  instruments  invented  by  Theobald  Boehm.  This  system  increased 
the  agility  of  these  instruments  and  improved  their  intonation. 

The  climax  of  orchestral  concert  music  is  reached  in  Berlioz* s stu- 
pendous "Requiem”,  which  calls  for  nearly  a hundred  strings,  besides 

two  oboes,  four  flutes,  eight  bassoons,  four  clarinets,  twelve 
French  horns,  one  English  horn,  four  cornets,  twelve  trumpets,  six- 
teen tenor  trombones,  two  bambardons,  four  ophicleides,  two  bass 


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drums,  eight  pairs  of  kettle  drums,  three  pairs  of  cymbals,  and  a 
gong.  Such  a grouping  is  a monstrosity,  and  from  an  artistic  point 
of  view  little  more  than  a curiosity.  However,  it  points  out  the 
importance  that  Berlioz  placed  upon  the  tymparii  section  of  the 
Orchestra. 


' 


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5 


HISTORY  OF  THE  KETTLE  DRUMS* 

The  invention  of  the  kettle  drums  goes  back  to  remotest 
antiquity.  Although  we  lack  formal  documents,  tradition  tells  us 
that  they  were  in  use  among  the  primitive  people  of  India,  and  it  is 
even  believed  that  the  kettle  drums  preceded  the  trumpet.  It  is  pre- 
sumed that  these  instruments  as  well  as  the  lyre  and  the  flute  were 
invented  about  the  same  time,  and  that  experience  or  chance  taught 
men  to  blow  in  a tube,  to  strike  on  a stretched  hide,  or  to  make 
strings  vibrate.  The  darkness  which  surrounds  the  origin  of  the 
kettle  drum  vanishes  when  the  Hebrew  era  begins.  These  people  were 
the  first  to  relate  all  events  and  matters  of  importance  in  form  of 
manuscripts  which  have  thrown  considerable  light,  not  only  on 
chronology,  history  and  religion,  but  also  on  secondary  questions, 
and  especially  on  the  music  of  their  own  race,  and  on  that  of  a 
few  of  their  contemporaries.  The  kettle  drums  were  in  great  use 
among  them:  they  called  them  "throph",  which  means  'time'  or  'sound* 
The  Latin  term  "Tympanum”  is  derived  from  Greek  and  means  'to 
strike*.  Kircher  says  that  the  instrument  had  the  shape  of  a small 
canoe,  and  was  covered  up  tightly  by  a hide.  The  kettle  drummer 
struck  it  by  means  of  a metal  drum  stick,  sometimes  hastily,  some- 
times slowly,  and  sometimes  hard  or  feebly,  in  about  the  same  ways 
as  today.  Others  claim  that  the  "throph"  was  very  much  kettle 
shaped,  and  out  of  these  contradictory  opinions  it  is  difficult  to 
know  which  was  the  exact  shape  of  the  Hebrew  "throph",  or  kettle 

drum.  However,  its  existence  at  that  time  cannot  be  denied,  as  it 
is  mentioned  very  often  in  the  old  Testament,  in  which  we  read  that 
the  kettle  drum  was  generally  played  by  women,  sometimes  by  men. 


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Had  this  kettle  drum  the  shape  of  this  drawing 


.it 


was  carried  with  the  left  hand  by  means  of  the  handle  and  struck 
with  the  right.  The  Hebrews  used  it  in  music  devoted  to  God;  also 
in  festivities,  after  a victory;  in  meetings  and  during  meals,  and 
finally  in  dances.  The  use  of  the  kettle  drum  spread  afterwards 
into  the  pagan  population,  where  they  were  employed  in  rejoicing 
and  in  religious  ceremonies,  especially  in  honor  of  Bacchus.  The 
Phrygian  women  celebrated  the  mysteries  of  the  virgin  at  the  sound 
of  the  bronze  kettle  drums  struck  with  a brass  stick  or  the  hand. 
Saint  Isidore  and  Papias  give  us  the  description  of  a kettle  drum 
attributed  to  Her.  It  is  a wooden  hoop  covered  with  a hide  on  one 
side  only.  Alteburg  (Trompeter  and  Parkhurst,  Halle  1795)  tells  us 
that  he  found  on  some  coins,  and  an  old  bas-relief,  the  reproduc- 
tion of  a Bacchus  festival,  in  which  a maiden  is  seen  holding  a 
tabor  with  one  hand,  preceded  by  two  musicians  who  play,  one  on  a 
horn,  the  other  a kind  of  flute  with  two  pipes.  Sponius  and 
Pignorius  make  a distinction  between  the  light  and  heavy  kettle 
drum,  for  besides  the  brass  kettle  drum  already  mentioned,  there 
was  another  kind,  small  and  orbicular,  tightly  covered  with  a hide 
or  leather  and  struck  with  a small  stick, or  the  hand.  The  scientist, 
Bonarti,  writes  the  same  thing,  and  adds  that  in  those  days  as  well 
as  in  our  own,  they  had  the  habit  of  placing  around  the  wooden  hoop, 
small  metal  blades,  which  mixed  their  shrill  sound  with  the  deep 
resonance  of  the  hide.  By  this  clear  description  it  is  easy  to  recog- 
nize our  actual  tabor,  and  the  same  man  asserts  that  he  saw  a simi- 
lar instrument  on  a Roman  bas-relief.  These  examples  prove  in  a con- 
clusive way  the  simultaneous  existence  of  our  tabor ("Tympanum  levs") 


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and  the  kettle  drums  ("Tympanum  grave").  But  while  the  former  was 
taking  the  place  of  the  second  in  festivities  and  in  religious 
ceremonies,  the  latter  was  becoming  a war  instrument.  "The  Persian 
had  no  horn  or  trumpet  to  give  the  signal  of  battle.  They  used  a 
certain  big  basin  covered  with  leather.  They  struck  it  on  every 
side  and  thus  it  rendered  a hollow  and  terrible  sound  similar  to 
thunder",  to  quote  an  ancient  writer.  Pignorius  gave  two  models  of 

"Tympanumbellum"  (or  war  kettle  drums)  Here  is  the  first:- 

— 

The  second  produces  exactly  our  drum.  It  consisted 


of  a hollow  wooden  cylinder,  generally  a section  of  a palm  tree 
trunk  covered  on  each  end  with  a hide  and  struck  with  two  sticks.  The 


East  Indians  employed  a drum  like  this 
or  "Nakara".  Here  we  have  them,  three 
the  same  kind  which  are  traced  back  to 


called  "Naguar" 
instruments  of 
antiquity:-  the 


kettle  drum,  the  tabor,  and  the  drum.  The  question  as  to  whether 
the  kettle  drum  had  a determined  sound  is  a question  which  has  been 
impossible  to  solve.  There  is  nothing  to  indicate  that  it  had  one, 
nor  is  there  anything  which  authorizes  us  to  think  to  the  contrary. 

The  Orient,  where  the  kettle  drums  first  appeared,  kept  using  it, 
but  with  the  changes  of  shape  and  application.  In  Persia  the  Noble- 
men employed  a small  kettle  drum  to  hunt  the  eagles.  When  they  enter- 
ed the  forest  they  struck  it  violently  so  as  to  send  the  eagles  fly- 
ing about  and  thus  be  enabled  to  shoot  at  them.  In  Syria,  at  balls, 
festivals, and  other  rejoicings  given  by  the  Sovereign,  they  placed 
in  a circle  eight  kettle  drums  of  different  sizes,  each  one  giving 
a different  sound,  the  largest  drum  being  in  the  center.  The  musician^ 
struck  them  with  their  fists  without  written  music,  but  following  a 


* 


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8 

certain  harmonic  combination.  In  the  Orient  there  is  one  form  of 
drums  in  which  two  are  suspended  or  rather  fastened  to  a carved 
piece  of  wood  which  separates  the  two  drums,  the  wood  resting  upon 
the  floor.  In  smother  form,  a servant  carries  the  kettle  drum  on 
his  shoulder,  and  the  musician  plays  while  walking  back  of  him.  This 
is  used  in  the  Mohammedan  wedding  to  bring  the  bride  to  the  groom’s 
house.  Illustrated  are  two  small  Persian  drums. 

"The  basin  is  made  of  metal,  the  hide  being  that  of  a cow.  Both 
drums  are  tied  to  the  belt  and  are  played  with  sticks!? ( G.Boumani, 
from  "Translated  from  the  Bible.")  Under  all  probabilities  the 
kettle  drums  were  introduced  in  Europe  by  the  Saracens  when  they 
invaded  Spain.  Their  kettle  drums  were  much  larger  than  the  ancient 
ones  and  had  about  the  same  shape  as  ours.  They  were  first  employed 
in  war.  In  1547  ladislaus.  King  of  Poland,  sent  an  Ambassador  to 
Prance.  When  he  stopped  at  Nancy,  the  "Chronic"  of  the  times  said 
that  nobody  had  seen  such  big  drums,  looking  like  Caldrons  and 
carried  on  horses.  C.  A.  Boracchi  asserts  in  his , "Tympafti  Manual" 
that  in  1600  one  of  his  ancestors,  who  was  a kettle  drummer  had  an 
instrument  that  seems  of  a more  modern  construction.  The  drum,  as 
we  know,  was  definitely  adopted  for  the  infantry,  while  the  kettle 
drum  became  the  characteristic  instrument  of  the  cavalry;  then  a 
certain  number  of  trumpets  were  added  to  them  to  make  a war-like 
music.  When  a regiment  distinguished  itself,  a silver  kettle  drum 
was  generally  given  as  a reward.  A few  of  them  always  had  a Negro 

who  served  as  a kettle  drummer;  they  would  dress  him  to  represent 
a Turk,  and  mount  him  on  a white  horse,  which  may  confirm  the  opinioi 
that  the  kettle  drum  was  imported  into  Europe  by  the  Sarcens. 


. 

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9 


The  golden  age  of  the  kettle  drummer,  however,  was  the 
time  of  chivalry;  then  they  formed  together  with  the  trumpeters,  a 
real  guild,  and  as  it  was  their  honorable  privilege  to  give  the 
opening  signal  at  the  tournament  of  the  knights.  They  thought  them- 
selves entitled  to  look  down  on  other  ordinary  musicians,  and  to 
hold  themselves  aloof  from  them.  The  members  of  this  guild  also  call 
ed  themselves  artists , as  their  manner©  of  playing  were  not  known  to 
every  musician,  and  were  even  kept  secret.  Everyone  who  wanted  to 
enter  their  guild  was  bound  to  a master  for  six  years,  and  had  to 
pay  him  one  hundred  thalers.  At  the  end  of  the  time  of  apprentice- 
ship every  kettle  drummer  and  trumpeter  had  to  undergo  an  examina- 
tion in  order  to  perform  in  public  as  a privileged. drummer  or  trump- 
eter. In  the  year  1426  the  Emperor  Sigismund  gave  to  the  town  of 
Augsburg  the  privilege  of  keeping  a band  of  kettle  drummers  and 
trumpeters.  Somewhat  later,  other  free  towns  obtained  the  same  con- 
cession, which  was  always  regarded  as  an  especial  privilege.  For 
according  to  an  imperial  decree,  only  Princes,  Noblemen  and  such 
persons  as  possessed  the  degree  of  Doctor  were  allowed  to  have 
kettle  drummers  at  their  banquets,  dances,  etc.  It  follows  that 
from  the  regard  paid  to  the  privilege  of  keeping  kettle  drummers 
and  trumpeters,  the  office  of  these  musicians  was  thought  to  be  a 
very  high  and  important  one.  These  men  were  subject  solely  to  the 
jurisdiction  of  the  Princes  and  were  not  allowed,  when  once  members 
of  the  privileged  body,  to  perform  in  company  with  men  of  the  town 

band,  (not  even  in  church. ) Although  the  guild  maintained  its  repu- 
tation for  more  than  three  hundred  years,  it  gradually  sunk  in 
esteem  as  the  development  of  music  took  a higher  course,  and  its 


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privilege  became  totally  extinct.  Never-the-less,  the  kettle  drum 
is  still  a highly  valued  instrument.  The  art  of  playing  it  with 
proper  accuracy  and  taste  is  probably  more  difficult  today  than  for- 
merly, although  the  fact  may  be  less  acknowledged  by  the  great  pub- 
lic now,  than  before.  Before  the  kettle  drums  were  introduced  into 
the  orchestra  they  simply  had  to  play  the  bass  part  to  the  trumpets. 
For  that  reason  they  were  tuned  in  tonic  and  dominant,  a practice 
which  has  kept  up,  even  after  they  became  an  orchestral  instrument. 
The  older  masters  hardly  ever  use  the  kettle  drums  except  to  indi- 
cate the  tonic  and  dominant  in  pieces  of  pompousness  and  warlike 
character;  and  for  this  reason  they  mostly  grouped  the  drums  togeth- 
er with  the  trumpets,  as  in  Gluck  and  Mozart  operas. 

The  shape  and  general  construction  of  the  modem  drum  has 
changed  very  little  from  the  kettle  drum  of  a century  ago.  A hem- 
isphere of  copper,  sometimes  of  brass,  over  the  top  of  which  is 
stretched  a parchment,  bellum,  or  as  it  is  commonly  called,  the 
"head".  Around  the  edge  of  the  drum  are  screws  by  which  the  head  can 
be  tightened  or  loosened,  suiting  the  performer.  The  tuning  of  the 
kettle  drum  is  not  only  difficult  but  has  also  been  connected  with 
considerable  loss  of  time.  For  this  very  reason  composers  were 
formerly  compelled  to  allow  kettle  drummers  considerable  time  when- 
ever a change  of  pitch  was  required*  As  the  kettle  drummer  in  his 
hurry  generally  employs  two  or  three  screws  only,  next  to  him  for 
tuning,  the  pressure  hoop  gradually  gets  out  of  position,  the  ten- 
sion on  the  head  is  uneven,  and  an  indistinct  tone  is  the  result. 

In  order  to  avoid  this,  a mechanism  has  been  constructed  whereby  the 
tension  can  be  evenly  affected  by  one  single  turning  of  the  hand, 


, 


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■ 

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- 


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, ' 


11 


solving  the  problem  through  modern  technique  by  the  invention  of  a 
machine  kettle  drum  with  a pedal.  Ludwig  and  Ludwig,  a Chicago  firm 
of  drum  makers  seem  to  have  solved  the  problem  more  completely  than 
has  here-to-fore  ever  been  solved.  This  pedal,  or  machine  drum 
solves  the  problem  too  of  correcting  a roll  if  not  in  tune  without 
interrupting  it,  as  the  tuning  is  accomplished  by  the  feet.  The 
pedal  consists  of  a lever  which  on  one  end  has  a shoe  with  a heavy 
club  or  ball,  on  which  to  tread  with  the  foot  for  the  purpose  of 
tuning  it.  The  other  end  of  the  lever  is  fixed  to  a shaft  with  a 
so-called  eccentric.  The  latter  presses  upon  a lever  with  a bolt 
in  the  middle  by  which  the  plate  is  moved.  Having  moved  the  pedal, 
either  downward  (to  raise  the  pitch)  or  upward  (to  lower  the  pitch) 
the  heel  presses  sideways  against  a ring  shaped  spring  which  falls 
into  a tooth  of  a rack,  thus  fixing  the  pitch.  This  rack  is  connect- 
ed with  a pointer  showing  on  a dial  plate  whether  the  desired  pitch 
has  been  reached.  This  is  however  not  always  perfectly  reliable  as 
the  heads  of  the  kettle  drums  are  affected  by  the  changing  tempera- 
tures of  the  theatres  and  concert  rooms.  And  since  there  exists  no 
remedy  against  that,  a good  ear  will  always  have  to  be  the  best 
standard.  Before  being  used  at  all,  machine  kettle  drums  are  tuned 
by  the  adjusting  screw  in  B flat  and  F.  Although  the  machine  kettle 
drums  are  the  ideal  drums  for  Opera  and  Symphony  orchestras  their 
heavy  construction  together  with  the  cost,  which  averages  about  five 
hundred  dollars,  makes  them  practically  impossible  for  the  average 
drummer.  For  general  use  the  simple  screw  type  will  probably  always 
hold  its  own. 

There  are  low  and  high  kettle  drums.  The  low  kettle  drum 


t 


, 


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12 


can  be  tuned  to  any  note  from  P below  the  bass  clef  to  C in  the 
second  space;  while  the  high  kettle  drum  goes  from  B flat  on  the 
second  line  to  P on  the  fourth.  The  composer  indicates  at  the  begin- 
ning of  the  score  the  two  notes  first  required  of  the  drums,  and  the 
player  tunes  his  drums  accordingly.  In  the  older  scores  these  two 
notes  were  almost  invariably  the  tonic  and  the  dominant  (key  note 
and  fifth)  of  the  key  of  the  composition,  and  these  notes  were  the 
only  ones  played  by  the  tympani  during  the  movement  of  the  piece. 

With  the  increasing  prevalence  of  dissonant  harmonies  the  drums  are 
often  allotted  any  note  of  the  harmonies  and  are  furthermore  requir- 
ed constantly  to  re-tune  in  the  midst  of  a movement  to  follow  the 
free  modulations  of  modern  chromatics.  The  drums  find  their  main 
service  in  heightening  the  intensity  of  a climax  by  the  dramatic 
thrill  of  their  roll.  They  are  a vast  rhythmic  factor  of  the 
orchestra.  Previous  to  Beethoven  the  kettle  drums  were  tuned  tonic 
and  dominant,  but  this  master  introduced  the  style  of  tuning  the 
tonic  below  rather  than  above  the  dominant,  making  an  interval  of  a 
fifth  instead  of  a fourth,  as  was  formerly  the  interval.  Beethoven 
also  saw  the  advantage  of  tuning  his  tympani  in  still  other  ways, 
and  in  the  finale  of  the  Eighth  Symphony  and  the  Ninth  he  wrote  for 

p"§  (P  to  P) 


them  in  octaves  at  their  extreme  compass 
Again,  in  the  beginning  of  the  last  act  of  "Pidelio"  he  wrote  their 
parts  in  A and  E flat  in  a dissonant  passage  of  much  dramatic  power. 
The  tympani  have  sometimes  been  used  as  solo  instruments,  and 

Beethoven  made  clever  use  of  the  drums  in  having  them  introduce  the 
motif  (0^7777  J~7:  ,lat  the  very  opening  of  his  "Violin  Concerto". 

" ~ I | Ml  "-^1 

Again  in  the  slow  movement  of  the  Ninth  Symphony  he  made  the  two 


, 


. 


f t - 


, - i * * tr 


13 


drums  play  simultaneously  on  two  notes  of  a chord.  This  was  also 
novel.  In  the  Andante  of  his  First  Symphony  he  had  already  made  the 
tympani  play  the  bass  to  a melody  of  violins  and  flutes,  and  in  the 
Fourth  Symphony  the  tympani  take  their  turn  with  the  other  instru- 
ments in  playing  the  theme  of  two  notes  often  repeated.  Beethoven 
thus  paved  the  way  for  subsequent  composers  to  make  a wide  and 
varied  use  not  only  of  the  tympani  but  of  other  percussion  instru- 
ments. 

Weber  followed  Beethoven's  example  and  wrote  for  the 
tympani  in  C and  A in  the  incantation  scene  of  "Der  Freischutz" 
and  Wagner  made  similar  use  of  the  drums  in  the  beginning  of  the 
third  act  of  "Siegfried"  tuning  them  C and  F sharp  below.  Berlioz 
used  an  ominous  roll  descriptive  of  the  approaching  storm  in  his 
"Symphonie  Fantastique" , and  even  more  dramatic  use  has  been  made 
of  the  drums  in  "Die  Walkure"  where  the  rhythm  of  the  Funding  motive 
is  sounded  as  a foreboding.  One  of  the  earliest  examples  of  this 
melodic  treatment  of  the  drums  is  Bach's  Christmas  Oratoria  in  which 
they  have  a solo  passage  at  the  commencement  of  the  number. Richard 
Wagner  in  his  " Ring  of  the  Niebelunge"  has  written  for  two  sets  of 
kettle  drums  and  two  players.  He  makes  splendid  use  of  the  drums 
for  effect  as  for  instance:-  the  entrance  of  the  giants  in  "Das 
Rheingold"  and  in  "Siegfried's  killing  the  dragon,  and  still  again 
in  the  Funeral  March  from  his  "Gotterdammerung"  The  kettle  drum  has 
been  considered  of  so  little  importance  harmonically  that  they  are 

still  sometimes  treated  as  an  insignificant  part  of  the  orchestra. 
Verdi  and  Massenet  both  have  sometimes  in  their  works  written  notes 
to  be  played  by  the  drums  not  in  harmony  with  the  rest,  evidently 


r 


.c. 


i 

, 

■ 

. . . 

, 

14 

trying  to  avoid  a change  in  tuning,  further  proof  that  they  did  not 
consider  the  drums  to  serve  as  important  a part  in  composition  as 
they  are  capable  of  serving. 

In  order  to  find  just  what  increase  of  instrumental  charac- 
ter the  tympani  section  of  the  Orchestra  received  from  the  more 
modern  composers  over  the  earlier  writers,  I chose  to  compare  some 
works  of  Johann  Sebastin  Bach  with  Johannes  Brahms,  a writer  of  a 
more  recent  period. 

Bach  in  his  MEin  feste  Burg  ist  unser  Gott"  scored  spar- 
ingly for  the  tymparli.  Melodically  it  is  tonic  and  dominant,  and 
he  seems  here  to  have  used  the  tympani  more  to  stress  the  chord 
tonality  than  for  any  particular  rhythmic  effect  which  he  might  have 
secured  from  the  drums.  There  is  no  changing  of  the  drums  in  pitch, 
and  their  greatest  emphasis  appears  in  forte  passages.  Of  this  en- 
tire number  of  six  hundred  and  four  measures  he  scored  one  hundred 
and  twenty-one  for  the  tympani.  In  his  "Overtures  in  D"  he  has 
used  the  tympani  for  their  rolling,  droning  effect,  rather  than  any 
melodic  use  of  them,  it  seems.  Prom  the  entire  scoring  of  three 
hundred  and  ten  measures  he  used  the  tympani  in  one  hundred  and 
twelve  measures.  In  the  "Magnificat  in  D",  out  of  the  three  hun- 
dred eighty  three  measures  in  which  Bach  scored  for  full  orchestra, 
he  wrote  one  hundred  twenty  measures  for  the  tympani,  giving  this 
section  of  the  orchestra  more  prominence  in  appearance  than  he  has 
done  previously.  However,  in  his  "Matthaus  Passion",  he  wrote  two 
thousand  six  hundred  eighty  five  measures,  and  out  of  this  great 
number  he  actually  scored  for  the  drums  in  only  one  hundred  and  five 
measures.  The  scoring  seems  weak  and  unimportant  when  it  does  appear. 


i 


, 


. 

■ 

f 


} _r 

' 

: 


15 

Rarely  has  he  given  the  tympani  any  particular  individuality,  using 
them  more  for  certain  very  simple  rhythmic  and  melodic  effects, usual- 
ly stressing  the  rhythmic  effect  more  than  the  melodic.  He  placed 
his  "brass  section  above  his  wood  winds  in  his  soore  writing,  which 
causes  confusion  to  those  accustomed  to  reading  the  more  modem 
scores.  Out  of  the  entire  number  of  two  thousand  three  hundred  and 
twenty  one  measures  composing  the  complete  writing  of  "Die  Hohe 
Masse",  he  actually  employed  the  tympani  in  one  hundred  eighty  meas- 
ures,and  then  only  in  such  a simple  fashion  as  the  following  example ; 


^■7  1 1 } ]L  r— f j — h j=f 7 r 

— — - .Jjfj]  i J lj  11  J J... 

y ) 1 j j j [y  y*  y 

I may  say  that  Bach's  writing  for  the  tympani  is  seldom  more  elabor- 
ate rhythmically  or  melodically  than  the  example  just  given  above, 
which  was  taken  from  the  tympani  score  in  his  work, "Die  Hohe  Masse." 
Brahms  employed  the  tympani  in  the  same  key  throughout  the  entire 
work  of  his  "Variations  uber  ein  thema  von  Jos.  Haydn"  and  scored 
for  the  drums  in  eighty  two  measures  out  of  the  entire  four  hundred 
and  sixty  seven.  In  his  "Symphony  No.  3 in  F"  he  has  done  remarkably 
different.  Of  the  eight  hundred  thirty  four  measures  comprising  the 
entire  number,  he  has  devoted  only  fifty  six  of  these  to  the  tympani. 
However,  it  is  necessary  that  the  drummer  be  more  skilled  than  he 
need  be  to  play  a Bach  number,  for  in  this  Symphony,  Brahms  changes 
the  key  from  P to  A and  back  to  F again,  in  the  tympani.  In  the 
Allegro  movement  the  drums  have  been  playing  F - C,  and  with  only 
one  measure  rest  in  which  to  mute  C,  the  drums  must  be  changed  to 
play  B flat,  as  shown: 


. 


♦ 


0 

. 


T, 


* 


i ' t 


. 


16 


In  his  "Symphony  No. 4 in  E"  Brahms  has  the  tympani  playing  this 

i — a a 

FR  N 

"7777 

3 3 I 3 

showing  that  the  drummer  necessarily  must  he  a better  musician  than 
was  demanded  in  the  days  of  Bach.  Then  in  the  Allegro  giocoso  move- 
ment he  has  the  tympani  playing  in  P.  G.  and  C.,  which  is  the  first 
we  see  of  three  kettle  drums.  Again  he  has  them  playing  in  E.G.B. 

Out  of  the  total  number  of  one  thousand  two  hundred  twenty  six  meas- 
ures, he  has  written  for  the  tympani  in  three  hundred  twenty  six 
measures,  in  such  a manner  that  the  drummer  begins  to  receive  recog- 
nition as  quite  a necessary  musician  in  the  orchestra.  Brahms  again 
wrote  profusely  for  the  tympani  in  his  rtUh  Garische  Tsuize",  when  he 
actually  scored  one  hundred  seventy  six  measures  for  that  section 
of  the  orchestra,  out  of  the  entire  number  of  three  hundred  forty 
seven  measures,  which  makes  a percentage  of  almost  half  in  which 
he  actually  had  the  drums  playing.  He  also  had  his  tympani  playing 
in  G.D;  D.A;  and  F.C.,  necessitating  that  the  drums  be  changed  in 
pitch  three  times,  thus  seeming  to  be  employing  them  more  melodical- 
ly  than  rhythmically  in  his  score.  In  his  "Triumphlied" , Brahms  has 
used  the  tympani  as  a beautifully  melodic  bass.  Of  the  six  hundred 
ten  measures  in  the  entire  work  he  scored  one  hundred  seventy  two 
for  the  tympani.  -Although  the  percentage  of  his  use  of  the  drums 
here  isn*t  as  large  as  in  his  M Un  Garische  Tanze"  one  may  say  he  has 
employed  them  here  with  more  musicianship.  The  development  of  the 
individuality  of  the  tympani  section  between  the  time  of  Bach’s 
period  of  writing  and  that  of  Brahms  is  quite  easily  seen.  In  its 
own  realm  the  tympani  has  become  more  of  a solo  and  less  of  an 

accompanying  instrument. 


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